TD Cowen Reiterates "Hold" Rating for Centene (NYSE:CNC)

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold" rating reaffirmed by analysts at TD Cowen in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $33.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $73.00. TD Cowen's price objective points to a potential upside of 18.49% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on CNC. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on Centene from $90.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $48.00 price target (down from $75.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $45.00 price target (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Mizuho decreased their price target on Centene from $71.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Bank of America cut Centene from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $52.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $55.13.

Centene Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of CNC stock traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $27.85. 18,989,633 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,152,667. Centene has a 1 year low of $27.34 and a 1 year high of $80.59. The company's 50 day moving average is $50.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $13.86 billion, a PE ratio of 4.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.44.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $46.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.16 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 2.04%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.26 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Centene will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Centene

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Centene during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

About Centene

Centene Corporation operates as a healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured families, commercial organizations, and military families in the United States. The company operates through Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, and Other segments. The Medicaid segment offers health plan coverage, including medicaid expansion, aged, blind, disabled, children's health insurance program, foster care, medicare-medicaid plans, long-term services and support.